Ed Cooley hired as next head coach at Georgetown

Update: Georgetown has made the hiring of Ed Cooley official.

Georgetown has hired Providence head coach Ed Cooley to fill its coaching vacancy on Monday, per Matt Norlander of CBS Sports. The veteran coach will switch Big East schools and replace Patrick Ewing, who was fired by his alma mater following their exit from the conference tournament. Providence confirmed Cooley’s resignation and is now undergoing its own search for a new head coach.

A Providence, RI, native, Cooley took over at his hometown school in 2011 following a successful five-year stint at Fairfield. After posting a 15-17 record in his first season, he’d consistently have the Friars competing in the postseason for the next decade by earning seven NCAA Tournament bids and two trips to the NIT.

His most successful season came during the 2021-22 campaign, where Providence won 27 games, won the Big East regular season championship for the very first time, and made the Sweet 16. They posted a 21-win campaign this year before being eliminated in round one of the NCAA Tournament. He ultimately posted a 242-153 record with the Friars.

Cooley will now try to resurrect a fallen college basketball power in Georgetown that has sunken to depths not seen since before John Thompson arrived in the early 1970’s. The Hoyas posted an abysmal 13-50 combined record during the final two years of Ewing’s tenure, winning just two Big East games during that period.